S. 2959, a bill to amend the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 to clarify the use of amounts in the WMAT Settlement Fund

S. 2959 would amend the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 to clarify that the White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) is authorized to use amounts from the WMAT settlement fund, as established in that act to plan, design, and construct a rural water system. Under current law, almost $79 million is authorized to be appropriated to the settlement fund. S. 2959 would expand the uses of the fund but would not authorize the appropriation of any additional funding. As of September 2016, no funds have been appropriated to the WMAT settlement fund.

CBO estimates that implementing S. 2959 would not affect spending that is subject to appropriation, and enacting the bill would not affect direct spending, or revenues. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.

CBO estimates that enacting S. 2959 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.

S. 2959 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The White Mountain Apache Tribe would benefit from authorizations in the bill to use existing settlement funds for planning, design, and construction of a rural water system. Any costs to the tribe would result from complying with conditions of assistance.